The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of material handling apparatus and, more specifically, deals with a new and improved cornering conveyor system i.e., a conveyor system having a lateral take-off conveyor, for flat products or the like, especially paper products.
The cornering conveyor system of the present development is of the type comprising an infeed conveyor and an outfeed conveyor, the outfeed conveyor moves past the discharge end or portion of the infeed conveyor and at an angle with regard to its conveying direction. Further, essentially conical clamping bodies rotatable about their related axis are provided for the outfeed conveyor, these clamping bodies being arranged successively in the direction of conveying of the outfeed conveyor and at a spacing from the discharge end of the infeed conveyor. The clamping bodies have tips directed towards the conveying direction of the infeed conveyor and their outer or jacket surface together with the outfeed conveyor form a respective conveyor or conveying gap effective in the direction of conveying of the outfeed conveyor.
Now in U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,420 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,258, especially FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, there is disclosed such general type of outfeed conveyor. With this state-of-the-art so-called cornering conveyor the infeed conveyor is constructed as a small band conveyor and the outfeed conveyor is constructed as a roll track moving away from the infeed conveyor and at right angles thereto. The outfeed conveyor has operatively associated therewith a set of conical, rotatable clamping bodies which in the direction of conveying of the roll track are arranged in succession in a row parallel to its conveying direction. During operation, the outer surfaces of these clamping bodies together with the neighboring rolls of the outfeed conveyor form a conveyor gap where there are clamped the products arriving from the infeed conveyor, and thus, without any change in position transport away these products transverse to the direction of conveying of the infeed conveyor. A prerequisite for a faultless mode of operation of the thus constructed corner conveyor is, however, that the products are infed thereto individually, or, however, in individual rows. In the case of products which already are available at the infeed conveyor in a practically endless, imbricated formation, where successive products partially overlap one another, especially printed prodcuts arriving from a rotary printing press, this prior art cornering conveyor is however not suitable for use.